Robin+Roe


 * SUMMARY: "Robin," age 21, died May 4, 1972 from a legal abortion performed in New York.**

"Robin" is one of the women Life Dynamics identifies on their "[|Blackmun Wall]" as having been killed by a [|safe and legal abortion].

In February of 1972, 21-year-old Robin traveled from Massachusetts to New York for a first trimester abortion. She underwent the procedure and returned home.

About two weeks later, she started suffering abdominal pain. A month later, she was diagnosed with aplastic anemia and hepatitis.

Three months after her abortion, on May 4, 1972, Robin died, leaving two children motherless. Public health officials linked her death to the abortion.

The 1970 liberalization of abortion had made New York an abortion mecca until the // Roe vs. Wade // Supreme Court ruling that abortionists could legally set up shop in any state of the union. In addition to "Robin," these are the women I know of who had the dubious benefit of dying from the newfangled safe-and-legal kind of abortion in pre- // Roe // New York:


 * @Pearl Schwier, July, 1970, cardiac arrest during abortion
 * Carmen Rodriguez, July, 1970, salt solution intended to kill the fetus accidentally injected into her bloodstream
 * Barbara Riley, July, 1970, sickle-cell crisis triggered by abortion recommended by doctor due to her sickle cell disease
 * "Linda Michelle Hoffman", September, 1970, sent back to her home in Indiana with an untreated hole poked in her uterus
 * Maria Ortega, October, 1970, fetus shoved through her uterus into her pelvic cavity then left there
 * "Kimberly" Roe, December, 1970, cardiac arrest during abortion
 * "Amy" Roe, January, 1971, massive pulmonary embolism
 * "Andrea" Roe, January, 1971, overwhelming infection
 * "Sandra" Roe, April, 1971, committed suicide due to post-abortion remorse
 * "Anita" Roe, May, 1971, bled to death in her home during process of outpatient saline abortion
 * Margaret Smith, June 1971, hemorrhage from multiple lacerations during outpatient hysterotomy abortion
 * "Annie" Roe, June, 1971, cardiac arrest during anesthesia
 * "Audrey" Roe, July, 1971, cardiac arrest during abortion
 * "Vicki" Roe, August, 1971, post-abortion infection
 * "April" Roe, August, 1971, injected with saline for outpatient abortion, went into shock and died
 * "Barbara" Roe, September, 1971, cardiac arrest after saline injection for abortion
 * "Tammy" Roe, October, 1971, massive post-abortion infection
 * Carole Schaner, October, 1971, hemorrhage from multiple lacerations during outpatient hysterotomy abortion
 * "Beth" Roe, December, 1971, saline injection meant to kill fetus accidentally injected into her bloodstream
 * "Roseann" Roe, February, 1971, vomiting with seizures causing pneumonia after saline abortion
 * "Connie" Roe, March, 1972, cardiac arrest during abortion
 * "Julie" Roe, April, 1972, holes torn in her uterus and bowel
 * "Roxanne" Roe, May, 1972, given overdose of abortion sedatives
 * "Danielle" Roe, May, 1972, air in her bloodstream

As you can see from the graph below, abortion deaths were falling dramatically before legalization. This steep fall had been in place for decades. To argue that legalization lowered abortion mortality simply isn't supported by the data.



LDI Sources: "Maternal Mortality Associated With Legal Abortion in New York State: July 1, 1970 - June 30, 1972," Berger, Tietze, Pakter, Katz, Obstetrics and Gynecology, 43:3, March 1974, 325

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